Stewart, Strange Kill Daly`s Power Play

LA QUINTA, CALIF. — Hail to Payne Stewart and Curtis Strange, two veterans who struck mighty blows Sunday to defend the honor of ordinary people against that golfer from Mars, John Daly.

With Jack Nicklaus` effectiveness impaired by a disagreeable back and a putter that also evoked agony, Stewart and Strange were left to tag-team the supernatural strength of Daly, who had notions of a hostile takeover in his first Skins Game.

The 25-year-old biggest of all boppers condensed PGA West`s forbidding Stadium course to his specifications Saturday, when he stared down 45-m.p.h. gusts and socked away $120,000 while his three partners were little more than stage props. Then at dawn Sunday, Daly woke up on the long side of the bed again, driving the ball 300 yards as effortlessly as he brushes his teeth.

``What John does is basically play a different par than us,`` Stewart decided. ``The guy can be scary. If it`s 72 for us, it`s like 68 for him because he hits it so far.``

Ah, but on occasion, Daly hits it too far. Come with us to No. 14, where $260,000 was the carrot. Stewart, who has won a fortune and two majors without killing the ball, delivered his tee shot to a conventional landing area, about 127 yards from the cup. Daly, meanwhile, drove it some 330 yards, through the fairway and into moderately thick grass. Stewart`s full pitching wedge checked up within 4 feet of the hole, but Daly was unable to apply the preferred spin on his half shot of maybe 60 yards.

He darn near sank a downhill slider for birdie anyway, and they might all have gone home right there had the ball dropped. But there was no almost for Stewart, who tapped in for birdie and eight skins worth of cash that had piled up since Saturday`s carryover at No. 7. The U.S. Open champion clicked his heels and held at $260,000, sufficient enough to dethrone Strange as Skins king and ensure Stewart`s presence at next November`s version of dollars in the desert.

Stewart, who toiled all summer in hot sun to earn a paltry $476,971, thought he`d reached the pay window at No. 12, where he masterfully stuck his 9-iron from a divot to within 18 inches. But Daly was hitting last-surprise, surprise-and his approach landed inside Stewart`s, would you believe. Stewart restarted his heart, healthy color returned to his face, and he converted for the birdie to halve with Daly. If Long John`s distance doesn`t intimidate, his soft hands will. Indeed, idol Nicklaus seems on the verge of nominating Daly as a dominant force in American golf.

No. 16 might have convinced the Golden Bear. There, Daly air-mailed his drive fully 100 yards past Nicklaus. Daly then lofted a 6-iron to get home in two on the 571-yard hole. But there was no winner, and when Stewart and Daly both got wet at No. 17, paupers Nicklaus and Strange wrestled for $120,000. Jack was away and he gave his putt no chance of disappearing. To lag is to perish in this format, yet Nicklaus` short strokes were repeatedly just that. Strange made his 12-footer for a nice check to rescue some self-esteem, but he did not play well.

Nicklaus had a 5-footer from below the hole at No. 18 for $40,000 of consolation, and that ball studiously avoided the hole, too. He splashed his second shot of sudden death and appeared delighted to be off for a hunting trip in Montana. He got skunked here and will try for a mountain lion there. Considering he couldn`t bend over Friday, Nicklaus said he was happy just to participate Saturday and Sunday. Which is all he really did, round out a foursome and shake his head at Daly`s otherworldly dimensions.

``I deserved what I got,`` Nicklaus sighed. ``Nothing.``

Stewart emerged as the steadiest of the bunch. His two-under aggregate of 70, with five birdies, beat Daly`s 71. But Stewart eliminated himself on the 19th hole, in the same pond that ended Nicklaus` misery. Daly and Strange did a twosome with a return engagement at No. 17, where the former picked up the final skin when the latter three-putted. Daly secured $160,000 total, nice padding for his official season`s rookie income of $574,783.

True to form, Daly sought out his parents afterward so they might rub elbows with Nicklaus, who praised this lad to the heavens.

``When I was 13, I had a friendly bet with my dad that I could outdrive him,`` Nicklaus recalled. ``I did, but I was too young for the prize, a car. John won three cars here in one weekend. I`d never played with him before. Impressive.``